I am excited on multiple fronts that Rockhurst University faculty will be presenting at this year’s assessment conference. First, our colleagues at Rockhurst have been a regular part of the conference since its inception. Secondly, given the current national focus on STEM, their breakout session on learning and retention in general biology courses offers a chance for all of us to get up to speed on the pertinent issues in assessing science curriculum.
We know from the literature that these introductory level courses often predict success in science courses throughout the curriculum. Obviously, this is an important concern for both four-year and transfer institutions. Consider hearing the team from Rockhurst explain the correlations and trends they found through their research in their session, “Assessment of Learning and Retention in a Two-Semester General Biology Course Sequence and Beyond.”
We have two four-year colleges presenting at this year’s conference. While the conference emphasis is still primarily on community colleges, there is so much that we have in common, especially in the area of assessment, that I am confident we all have much to learn from both our two-year and four-year colleagues.
Sheri H. Barrett, Ed.D